Lethe
by DirtyLaundry
Summary: How important are memories?Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? MA...and now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble. updated finally.
1. Chapter1 Episode1

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama / Angst / Implied Romance

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;)

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together?  
  
**Lethe**

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She watched pretending to still be asleep, laying on her front all caught up in the sheets. Although she was fully dressed she felt cold because of the gloom that hung heavy in the room due to her estrangement with the man in the room with her. He sat by the window staring blankly out into the night , his strong features softened by the dull glow of the city lights. He looked so lost, staring unmoved out at the world. He was ghostly, he had been moving around emotionless and desperate for days now. It was beginning to take it's toll on everyone, despite their efforts to continue as normal they couldn't help but feel the loss of his usual impish charm. Looking at him now he seemed almost angelic although his life-story placed him far from that.

Max had stayed by him every night since it had happened, hoping she would somehow bring it all back to him, bring him back.  
  
_"Max?!"_

_"Alec No!!"_

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__Max squeezed her eyes shut tighter trying to prevent herself from crying again as she remembered how this had all happened. He had gone back in for her but she'd left despite his order not to. Two explosives had been found in a building after suspicious activity was picked up on at HQ. Once neutralised, teams of transgenics began to do sweeps of the buildings in the immediate vicinity in Terminal City. Two blocks away Max and Alec had been securing the old fire-station on the corner when something had grabbed their attention. Alec said he would handle it and that she should stay there and finish the sweep. He had not been gone long when Max caught sight of a scrawny looking man below her through the partially collapsed flooring, trying to sneak away through an opening in the wall.  
  
_"Hey!" Max growled. At having been spotted the perpetrator made a run for it and Max chased after him. She came to the window and jumped down as the man slipped out below her. She grappled with him and tossed him down the street into the open then slammed him up against a wall. He wasn't defiant for long shaking with fear as she pinned him with her arm and her glare._

_"What are you doing in here? Who do you work for?" She demanded, he shook his head quickly finding it hard to form words. "These your handiwork?" She pushed again shoving the carcass of one of the dismantled bombs in his face._

_"Y-yes. Down-loadable instructions, any idiot can build one." Max regarded him in disgust._

_"Idiot is right." Max patted him down and removed his wallet taking his ID card out before discarding the rest._

_"Now that I know you ... Franklin, of Chapel Street, how about you tell me how many devises you've planted and maybe I won't have to break every bone in your body and send you home in a carrier bag ....Tell me!!" She pushed hard against the wall again._

_"Agh, four, we set four."_

_"Where? Take me to them." She began to force him away from the wall but he latched on to it ._

_"No, no, it's too late."_

_"What do you mean it's too late?"_

_"It's too late, the last device ... i-it's in the old fire-station, it's not like the rest." _

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I-it has a different t-trigger, if you neutralise the other three you'll set it off." After that everything happened so quickly. A voice in her ear piece confirmed that a third device had been found. Max tried to tell them to leave it but her transmitter microphone had been damaged when she jumped out of the building after the bomber. She heard Alec's voice in her ear becoming frantic when he couldn't get a reply. That's when she saw him, he was back inside the fire-station. A deep sense of dread settled in her stomach._

_"ALEC!!" She shouted, she saw him pause through the window as he tried to locate her voice . He turned and saw her staring at him from afar._

_"Max?"_

_"Alec No!!" Then the building dissolved around him as the base exploded out with such force that it almost took out the entire block._

__

__It was later that she found out that he had caught the other bomber who had told him more or less the same story, so then not being able to reach her had gone back to warn her only to end up barely alive and eventually with a serious case of amnesia. He had no idea who he was, where he was, or what he was and found it so hard to deal with. He had tried to explain it to her describing it as walking in someone else's shoes, shoes that didn't quite fit and there was no way of making them comfortable no matter how hard he tried. He told her how he just wanted to escape from the life he didn't have and the emptiness he felt because of it. That night he had cried, she had watched him much like she was now, helpless as he struggled with the big blank that blocked him at every turn.  
  
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He looked across the room at his only constant. Some girl that called herself Max who was sleeping on the bed she insisted was his. He wanted to remember her more than anything, she had been there for him from the start and for some reason he felt deep down that he could trust her. She was the only one he really spoke to, as with everyone else he was too aware that anything he said would be a disappointment. He felt like a lie so frightened of being exposed, of somehow sabotaging himself without realising. It was so frustrating, this big mess of feelings and emptiness. He had been told so much but none of it helped, he was like an actor learning to build a character rather than learning how to discover himself. He stared hard at his reflection in the glass of the window. He didn't feel like a soldier, or a leader - who was he?  
  
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As Max awoke the next morning she found Alec asleep against the window, his even breath making small clouds of condensation on the cold window pane. She stretched languidly and straightened herself out before she went to wake him. Crouching beside him she stroked a hand up and down his arm, trying her best to wake him slowly and gently. It would be a fatal mistake to startle a transgenic in Alec's confused and cornered state of mind. She whispered his name and touched his cheek with the back of her hand. His beautiful hazel eyes fluttered open and focused. He groaned as the cramp and stiffness in his muscles registered as he slowly stirred from his uncomfortable place of rest. He stretched and cracked the bones of his neck relieving the tension there.

"Morning." Max greeted sweetly smiling warmly for effect. Alec drank in the warming vision of the beautiful sunlit girl next to him but was only able to offer her an awkward smile that didn't reach his eyes. He felt that somehow he didn't deserve her affections, that they were meant for someone else. She helped him up before leaving him to change.

"I have to go into our old place of work today." She called out as she filled the kettle with water.

"Oh" came the muffled reply.

"Delivering packages for Jam Pony."

"Jam Pony." Alec repeated mechanically

"Ring any bells"

" 'fraid not."

"I won't be able to take you with me, but I have this friend who could..."

"Baby-sit me?" Alec emerged dressed neutrally in a black sweatshirt and dark jeans and stood across the room away from her, "I think I can manage thanks." He bit out bitterly. Max looked back down and nodded. Sighing heavily as he watched her, he didn't mean to be so cold, but he was just so tired and frustrated and he didn't want to be treated as an invalid, a pity case. She moved over to him offering him the coffee cup silently.

"So, will this 'friend' help?" He offered in way of peace offering.

"I hope so, he's moved back into his penthouse ... a lot happened there maybe something'll click." She felt like she was treading on eggshells, it was hard to know how to speak to him. Could she treat him just the way she did before? there was no way, what with him being so distant, she couldn't engage him in their usual banter or frivolous arguments, could she? they might spark a recognition but he wouldn't take it, it would just push him further out on the narrow ledge he was on. But then she found herself talking to him like she did to Joshua, it's not like they don't know how to take care of themselves but she forgets when to stop. How could she possibly know what he knew and what he needed to recover? She was so conscious of messing up it made her edgy and the lack of his chattiness unnerved her more. He had become his own antithesis and she missed him. She watched him swirl his coffee around his mug just the way he would with his whisky, and smiled.

"You know, you used to be a lot more chatty to me, in fact you hardly ever shut up." She smiled as he looked searchingly at her "Don't hold back Alec, if you want to say something say it." Alec just stared some more. "Say anything, don't be afraid, in fact the more outrageous, the more maddening and inappropriate the better."

"You know... you really are beautiful." Max straightened uncomfortably, well she had asked for the inappropriate.

"Err ... Alec, I don't think..." She trailed off as Alec laughed lightly, he hadn't laughed like that in the longest time and she completely forgot what she had been trying to say.

"I like you," He said "You're complicated." Max couldn't help but smile back at him, it gave her a renewed hope that it would happen soon.

"Come on, let's go or I'll be late ... well later than usual."

They walked down to the bottom of the building where they had kept their bikes. Alec had once again reverted to being sombre, mulling over why her issues with punctuality stuck in his mind, like he should know this. Max straddled her Ninja and watched him run a hand along the green paint-work of his Bandit,

"Are you cool to ride?"

"Yeah ... sure." He replied distractedly and then he mounted and they were off.  
  
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"Logan?" Max called across the apartment but knew already where she'd find him, hunched at his desk over his computer. The apartment was still in the process of being fixed up but it wasn't a far cry from it's former glory.

"Hey Max ... and Alec." He greeted as he saw them appear at the room partition. Alec just stared at the older man trying to decide where he fit into the mix, he'd been told about a lot of people but he wasn't sure about this one. The way he tenderly spoke Max's name and looked at her like she was some kind of rare butterfly he wanted to collect, made him feel queasy. He looked around making his way around the apartment looking for whatever it was he has been looking for all this time.

"Logan, I've got work. Do you mind if I leave Alec here? I thought this place might help." Logan looked over at the little lost boy that was Alec. He felt sorry for him; forgetting as a transgenic seems to be almost as bad as remembering. Alec was dangerous for Logan in his relationship with Max but now that he had lost his charm and charisma Logan could help but feel glad he could get one up on him. As if hearing his thoughts Alec looked up at him.

"Uh, sure, anything I can do to help..." Logan had been waiting for sometime like this, to be needed by Max, for her to ask for his help again like she used to. Ironically it was Alec who had taken that away from him that was now giving it back. Max smiled gratefully.

"Catch you later Alec." Max mouthed a thank you to Logan and left. Logan sighed glancing back at his new ward who was preoccupied with examining a sculptural arrangement.

Alec tried to keep his head clear and let things jump out at him, to let himself be drawn to things. But it was practically impossible, his brain working at a fiendish speed picking out every detail and analysing every inch of the room. Max had told him about his 'gifts' she said they were traits of all transgenics and Manticore alumni. It saddened him that he knew nothing of something so defining as being genetically empowered. Giving up he slumped into a chair and stared long and hard at this Logan guy as he played with his computer equipment. As if he could feel those dark hazel orbs burning into the back of his head logan turned to Alec. The critical and intense gaze made him feel like he was being stripped bare.

"Who are you?" Alec asked bluntly.

"I'm Logan Cale, aka Eye's Only." Logan shrugged his shoulders in fake modesty then paused apparently expecting a reaction. Alec hated when people did that even more so when it was obvious they wanted to be asked about it. So Alec refused him the pleasure. Though it was true he had no concept of what Eye's Only was or did. It sounded like a fictional private eye or some kind of pen name maybe he was just the owner of a security camera company on a major ego trip. Alec narrowed his eyes and tried a different angle.

"How do you know Max?"

"Well that's a long story. We started off working together on Eye's Only missions. We had a deal: she did some leg work for me, I did some research for her. But now... it's complicated."

"Well un-complicate it for me." Logan shifted uncomfortably.

"My relationship with Max isn't easy to describe. Anyway it's not really important if you don't remember it." Alec felt anger boil up inside him and he stood up

"No it's not important. It's not important if I don't remember if it has ever rained on my birthday, or where I used to go to do my laundry or the colour of panties on the last girl I slept with. They're not life altering things but I'd still like to know. I'd like to be able to walk down a road and know if I had been there before. By your reasoning none of it is 'really important' but I've got nothing..." Alec stopped pacing by the window. He fingered the frame as he tried to calm himself "There must be something, I must have been involved somehow, why else would she bring me here?!" Logan looked moved. He had never thought of Alec as the sentimental type, but then he had always had a streak of prejudice when it came to Alec, the true blue soldier, all brawn and very little brain. But as Max grew to accept and discover his layers so he was forced to recognise them.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything..." Alec looked at him beseechingly and Logan sighed. This was not going to be fun.  
  
A/N: It's me again! I've got three fic's on the go at once but this one is closest to being finished so I thought I'd post. Let me know what you think ... be brutal, I can take it. :) 


	2. Chapter2

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama / Angst / Implied Romance

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;)

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together?

Lethe: Chapter2__

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_"That's the funny thing about memories, we are only what we remember of ourselves."_

- from the sci fi series 'Aeon Flux' by Peter Chung  
  
Alec had had time to analyse the concept of memory hoping to get behind it, understand his situation better. Memories told you who you were, who you'd touched, who had touched you. It informed your decisions for the future as your own personal copy of the past. It gave life colour, and reason. He had considered the possibility that he would never remember, that his whole life to this point had been lost except for in the minds of those who knew him before. Their memories, their stories, not his. It no longer belonged to him. It was this thought that depressed him more than anything. Listening to Logans stories of battling repression and corruption from the ruthless power-brokers of this millennium seemed to confirm his theory.

"It's a bit early in the day for that, isn't it?" Alec pointed to the handsome dose of liquor Logan had poured himself.

"Is it?" He replied dryly as he took a mouthful hoping that it would dull the ache in his heart that talking about lost chances had brought up. Logan stalled, walking back into the living room then slumped back into his chair whilst Alec just waited patiently.

"So ... There I am thinking all my dreams are coming true when you turn up and inform us I've been infected with a DNA targeting retro-virus and Max is the carrier ... So saying we got off on the wrong foot is an understatement." Alec nodded solemnly.

"It was the same night Manticore was burnt to the ground ... we exposed the location of the project and they tried to cauteries the evidence." Logan paused to see if his words evoked any response but Alec looked unmoved. His mind churned the information over, he even tried to imagine it but the image was empty, void of feeling, of recognition and of reality.

A rage built within him fuelled by confusion, frustration and disappointment. He smacked his fist against the window, the action abruptly stopping Logan just as he was about to continue.

"Aar, Why?" Alec growled punctuating his words with the slamming of his fist into the window pane again, "Why don't I know this?!" At his last words he hit the glass surface with such force his hand smashed straight through it. Slowly he retracted his hand and stared at it in awe as his brain began to register the searing pain. The world vaporised around him, all sound stopped. He could no longer hear Logans questions, the clock ticking on the wall, or the rain drop patter on the window. He stared down at his wounds as blood oozed and spilled slowly down his arm dropping on to the floor. He looked up slowly at the broken window suddenly very aware of the fast beating of his heart. The window transformed before his eyes, becoming tall and the glass became aquatex in texture. An eerie early evening light poured in broken up by the trees outside. Alec could feel the cool outside air caress his face and the warmth of the last rays of sunshine on his flesh through the whole in the glass.

A moment passed and his face filled with strange serenity. Logan watched on, unsure of whether or not to disturb the moment but the smile settling on the younger man's face worried him. It seemed almost masochistic as if he intended to do it again.

The moment faded in his mind with his feeling of peace as he was thrown through innumerable sterile grey corridors, wooded landscapes, crumbling bombed out buildings and mine fields. He squeezed his eyes shut as his senses were assaulted by the stench of death, the feel of cold steel in his grasp and the screams of dying men.

"No." He groaned desperately clamping his hands around his head as another wave of memories once hidden ripped through him. Years of exposure to torture, abuse and experimentation left him breathless as he recalled the excruciating and endless pain he suffered. An image of a brightly lit room filled with unnamed equipment and anonymous 'scientists' appeared and that chair, the one that always smelled like burnt flesh.

"Argh, Stop!" Alec cried dropping to his knees, but the waves were relentless. Face after face appeared cold and lifeless before his eyes. His best friend hanging from a bridge beaten and bloody, a boy with a bandaged neck dropped in front of him, and the last strangled breaths of a piano teacher echoed in his mind.

"No!" His body shook and tears streamed down his face as he saw a solitary figure standing by a piano, made a silhouette by the sun. A pair of beautiful laughing eyes called to him, asked him 'Don't you like me?' Those eyes taunted him, so full of life and innocence. But then they turned to hatred. The sting of her hand across his face resonates in his heart as he chases her.

"NO!" His voice croaks as a car explodes in front of him over and over and over. "STOP!!"

Alec's rage exploded and he picked up the nearest object, a coffee table, and hurled it through the room partition  
  
A/N: not making much sense? Well it should all become clear next chapter. R&R. 


	3. Chapter3

Rating: PG 

Genre: Drama / Angst / Implied Romance 

Pairing: M/A 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;) 

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? 

Lethe: Chapter 3

It was lunch time when Max's pager went off and Logan's number flashed up urgently at her. It couldn't be a good sign she had only left Alec a few hours ago and she was just beginning to relax. She kept wondering whether taking him to Logan's was such a good idea but he couldn't have come here. Having to explain somehow to everyone how he lost his memory, whilst warding off Normal, and then trying to help Alec, just would have been too much for her and she was sure it would have been too much for him. She felt responsible for his condition and she had been pretty devoted to putting her time into his recovery. On a selfish level it was helping her to reassess her relationship with him, as she helped him recognise aspects of himself she began to recognise his layers. She found it ironically logical that a being with enhanced learning and memorising capabilities, who could become a concert pianist over night could loose everything in the same space of time. If he had snapped it wouldn't have been for the first time. When he first came to he had panicked did some serious damage to the examination room and some innocent transgenics who tried to subdue him. He had no one to trust in a place he didn't recognise. His basic instincts were to fight in order to survive. But beyond that there was also the little boy, who never had the chance to grow up who didn't want to be alone anymore. Just because he decided to play hero, putting himself in danger to remover her from it, and she wasn't able to stop him. She took a deep breath and walked over to the pay-phone praying for good news. It rang only once, not a good sign, almost as bad as no one answering at all. 

"It's me, what's up?" 

"Max it's Alec he's gone crazy!" In the background Max could hear smashing, crunching and growls. It was hard to specify what it was as it appeared Logan was moving away from the sounds of destruction. 

"What do you mean 'crazy'?" 

"We were just talking and he got all worked up, like he there were too many questions he didn't have answers for He smashed his fist through the window and that was it, he just lost it." Max's eyes widened. 

"Is he hurting himself? Is he hurting you?" 

"I'm fine. He seems to have rediscovered his superhuman strength ... I think you need to get down here ... Now Max." 

"I'm on my way." She hung up and dodged Normal as she raced to the exit. Hoping onto her Ninja she gunned the engine and sped off toward Foggle Towers, hoping she wasn't too late and Alec had already imploded. 

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The journey up Logan's apartment block was a blur all that registered was the large wooden door at the top. She kicked it through having no patience to pick the lock. The destruction that met her on the other side caught her off guard, the apartment had been practically ripped to shreds. She quickly recovered and called out across the room, Logan called back drawing her to the smashed window she found him staring out of. He didn't look any worse for ware which was a good start. 

"Where's Alec?" Max asked. Logan pointed at a lone figure that stood on the roof top below them. 

"I don't know what happened ... But I think he's remembering." 

Her face creased with concern. It was bad enough not knowing anything but what if he was being swamped with memories, painful memories of imprisonment, torture and loss. Max pressed her hand to the window as she watched him just stand there on the edge of the roof ledge. Manticore for her held few good or pleasant memories and she had escaped, she could only imagine what another ten years could do to a mind. She began to wonder if maybe it would be better that he didn't remember. 

"He's been standing there for quite some time, maybe you should ..." Logan suggested 

"Yeah." Max replied distractedly. She made her resolve as she climbed out of the window and swooped down on to the roof below, she would face him, he might not be lost just yet. 

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A smirk crept across his lips as he heard her drop down and cautiously approach but he wiped it away before he turned to her. Neither spoke for a moment both engaged in an intense stare down. 

"Alec?" Max ventured, stepping closer only to cause Alec to drop into a fighting stance "Are you alright?" 

"Take me down." He demanded 

"I'm not going to fight you." 

"Take me down!" He repeated as he started to circle his target. 

"Please Alec, don't do this." She pleaded her mind flashing back to the fateful day when she fought Ben in the forest. Alec didn't back down, his mind set. It was the only way to show her. 

"I said Take. Me. Down!" He shouted slowly punctuating his words then taking a swing at her. She backed out of harms-way and shook her head, begging him with her eyes not to follow through. "Take me down or I'll take you down." He growled dangerously, slashing at her with one hand then kicking her square in the chest as she moved to dodge it. Max stumbled back a step. Slowly her fists rose and she dropped her centre of gravity, taking up her own attack stance, pinning him with her enraged glare. 

"Fine let's do this." Alec grinned. Logan watched confused as the two transgenics began to circle each other before launching into a fast and furious battle. He'd watched Max fight Alec before, she somehow always seemed to have the upper-hand, but now she appeared more at Alec's mercy. They were evenly matched but Alec had the clear advantage here, and he wasn't holding back. Alec's advantage allowed him to mould the fight dealing out very specific moves. Max found something strangely familiar about them. Flashes of her past, of Manticore randomly appeared in her mind but she couldn't quite place it. The familiar set of moves Alec delivered in turn led her and her curiosity to reciprocate by delivering moves as appropriate, as she tried to remember when she had fought this way before. Alec allowed himself a devious smile as they continued to duel, she was remembering. Alec wouldn't let her stray from the routine his strength and ability to yield it had fully returned and he was determined to see this through. 

Just as it seemed the tables might be turning the fight ended. Max jabbed at Alec in the face with a quick right-left combo. Alec stumbled a step, his head following the punch through, and doing nothing to stop it. He cracked his neck back into position and dropped his stance. Max watched him wearily, confused by the fiery sparkle in his eyes. 

"It was you." he stated softly as he slowly approached her, never breaking eye contact so that he wouldn't miss the moment of recognition when it came. Max was still confused. He removed a glove he had pulled over one of his hands to reveal it to be still bloody and ridden with glass shards. She didn't understand at first but the moment she took hold of his hand it all became clear. A memory flickered into clarity around her and she was no longer on the rooftops of Seattle but back at Manticore, her hair a military standard buzz-cut, holding the hand of a boy about her age who had just smashed it through a window. He smiled through the pain. She carefully pulled out a large shard feeling him wince as she did so. Their moment broke as Lydecker entered giving them both a disapproving look. While her companion was dragged away by an unnamed officer, Lydecker addressed her. 

"452, fall in, eye's front! Your return to barracks has now been suspended (sigh) follow me." 

Max almost didn't register his words still watching with rapt fascination the boy being dragged away from her. He looked back at her until she was gone from sight. 

Max returned to the present and looked up at Alec searchingly. 

"That day in the gym. It was you. How could I have forgotten?" 

"They made us forget, gave them a little fright. I think they hadn't thought the old gym was an easy out route. That's why they spent ages rebuilding it." Max shook her head in disbelief. 

"I always wondered what was wrong with the old gym, the new one wasn't so different, but now..." She smiled up at Alec knowingly "So you were trouble from the start, huh." Alec smirked and scratched the back of his head. Looking back down at their still joined hands the events of that day replayed in their minds. 

Max sat in the empty gym after having completed manticore's mandatory annual individual testing scheme and was eager to get back to her unit. But Lydecker who had always put in a little extra when it came to her was apparently unsatisfied. So she waited there alone looking at the tall textured windows, the shiny exercise bars and the mat lined floor. 

A young 494 had been on his way to the infirmary for a medical check-up before deployment. He loathed it. Being poked, prodded, and probed for a few hours was worth delaying as long as possible, and right now he was desperate. As if answering his plea he stopped outside the gym seeing a soldier about his age standing alone inside. He watched a moment intrigued, then being in no particular hurry to get on, he went inside. To his surprise the girl smiled at him as if she knew him. 

Max was relieved to see her brother enter the room, she had in her opinion spent far too long away from her brothers and sisters. But her smile faltered as he continued to stare blankly back at her, checking her over as you would a complete stranger or adversary. A grin spread across his lips which seemed to say show-me -what-you-got. Without a word he made the challenge and took up a fighting stance. Max returned his grin with her own speculative smile narrowing her eyes calculatingly at her opponent. They fought, Alec dominating throughout with Max coming back at the end. Max delivered a quick right-left combo which he avoided giving her the opportunity to kick his legs out form under him and he fell back on to the mat. Down but not out Alec made a move to reciprocate the gesture but Max straddled his hips to stop him. Alec resorted to a trick not on the Manticore curriculum and tickled her. The totally unexpected move caused Max to jump away in a squeal of unsurpressed laughter. Soon a lively, high speed chace about the gym ensued, the two of them laughing and dodging about trying to tickle or avoid being tickled. They remembered feeling more alive than they had ever been during training or out on manoeuvres. Alec made a lunge at Max who only just dodged out of the way leaving him unable to stop his hand from smashing through the window behind her. It all stopped. Slowly Alec pulled his hand back through, blood running down his arm and dropping on to the floor. Alec could feel the cool outside air caress his face and the warmth of the last rays of sunshine on his flesh through the whole in the glass. Jagged shards were embedded in his wound and some of his blood and flesh was left behind where the glass had claimed it. He turned to Max as she approached him, concern written across her face. He held out his hand to her smiling through the pain... 

As the moment faded back to the present Max laughed, strangely delighted to be back in possession of that particular memory. Alec lightly stroked the fingers of Max's hand with his thumb. 

"All we do is fight; at Manticore, at Logans, in the ring..." 

"Do you remember ... everything?" 

"I remember you." He whispered softly. Suddenly feeling as if he may have overstepped an invisible line he tried to lighten the atmosphere that now crackled with tension. "You could say I got sense knocked into me." Max cracked into a big smile and hugged him, which he hadn't expected. 

"It's good to have you back." She laughed through the lump in her throat choking her words. Alec closed his eyes, wrapping himself around her trying to contain that warm feeling inside, and secretly smelling her hair. 

"Hey!!" Logan's agitated shout broke the spell and they looked up at him noting his clear discomfort with their increasing closeness. Alec sighed and pointed upwards offering Max his arm. 

"Shall we?" 

"We shall, we've got to get you cleaned up." 

A/N: See Max and Alec fighting has it's benefits. I haven't Logan bashed really but there's plenty of time for that, I wanted to focus on Alec's state of mind first. So how am I doing? Shall I leave it there or do we want more? Let me know. xxx 


	4. Chapter4 Episode2

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;)

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble.  
  
Lethe

**_Episode 2: Bedside Manners_**

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Carefully climbing in through the broken window they had used for an exit, the two transgenics stood awkwardly staring at the destruction. Alec could only offer Logan small apologetic smile having forgotten the extent to which he had trashed the older mans apartment. Logan stood crouched over a pile of clay limbs that had once been an Aztec sculpture. To say Logan looked agitated would be a gross understatement. Max sensed the tension.

"Alec, go find the first aid kit." Alec complied happily and slipped out of the way. Max stepped over the remains of the coffee table and a bookcase to where Logan was standing.

"So I take it he's back."

"Yeah. Look Logan..."

"Look at this place." Logan huffed throwing the remnants of his Aztec god to the floor with a resounding thud. He sighed emphatically "How many times do I have to start over?" Max stood speechless, although he hadn't said it directly it felt like he was implying that she and her kind were a huge burden to him. There was always going to be problems, if they were going to be together, there were risks that they both would have to accept. And by the sounds of it Logan was beginning to tire of the cons.

Logan slumped off across the room to the far wall where one of his more expensive paintings seemed to be the only thing in this room left unscathed. Max tried to console him.

"I'm sorry Logan, it was..."

"You'd think he'd be able to practise some self-control," Logan continued cutting her off "He's a ticking time-bomb."

"Hey! It's been a hard time for him."

"Oh yeah." Logan scuffed sarcastically "I bet being waited on hand and foot was unbearable." Logan voice was lined with bitterness. "You know I wouldn't be surprised if this had all been an act." Max's hand connected with his face in a loud crack. With the virus cured she could set him straight in any way she pleased.

"I suppose he pretended to almost die too." Max snapped back "It's just stuff Logan, _it_ can be replaced." with that she stormed off after Alec. She found him sat in the kitchen already at work with a pair of tweezers trying to pull the glass shards out of his hand.

"Hey let me do that." She said softly, taking over. Alec said nothing just watched her as she set to work. He had tried not to over hear but with his abilities it was hard not to. It seemed he was causing problems between Max and Logan again without meaning to. He may not have liked the guy or less understood him, but he had an amount of respect for him. It had happened that the accident had timed itself almost exactly with Logan's big breakthrough with the cure. It brought Max out of reach once again as she devoted herself to Alec's recovery. So he couldn't blame Logan for feeling as he did. Alec could see Logan lurking in his peripheral vision giving them a suspicious glance every now and then. He sighed and looked back at Max trying to force Logan and Logan's ridiculous paranoia out of his mind.

Max carefully cleaned the cuts and gashes before pulling out some gauze to wrap his hand up with. Alec couldn't remember Manticore ever being this gentle. Their policy seemed to be the more pain you endured the stronger you would become against it. Manticore was back in Alec as was his darker side and darker deeds in the form of a number, 494. As the tidal wave of memories crashed through him it crushed a lot of his defences to those torturous memories he'd tried to forget and unearthed hidden ones that Manticore wanted him to forget. The blow was cushioned somewhat by the memories of his freedom, of his friends, of his family, of the good he had done, allowing him to keep his faith in himself.

Max finished packing up and looked up at Alec, who was looking at her with a strange wonderment. She blushed lightly under his heated scrutiny.

"All done." Her words snapped him out of his daze. He flexed his fingers testing the limiting effects of the bandage. It still hurt but it was functional.

"Thanks."  
  
They spent the next few hours helping Logan to tidy his apartment, with Alec trying to apologies and Logan trying to say as little as possible to him.

"Uh ... Logan ... I'll pay for all this ... really." Logan said nothing so Alec gave up and just left quickly. Max glared at Logan.

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's him, taking everyone for a ride. Max, you haven't had a moment to yourself since the bombings ... I haven't had you home once since ... what about us?" Max continued to stare at him in disbelief, he was speaking out of anger and jealousy he knew it but he couldn't help it.

"What about us? this has nothing to do with us. He's a friend who needed help. we're in the middle of a war Logan things like this are going to happen." Max made a move to leave

"So why aren't you going to stay tonight?" Max turned around and beheld him as if he were stupid to even ask that question. She left to find Alec and get away from that place as quickly as possible.

"You alright?" Alec asked as she exited the building approaching him where he had been waiting by their parked bikes.

"I'm fine, Lets just go."

Alec growled inwardly as they rode away from Foggle Towers. He hated how the older man could always destroy Max's mood and usually left him to take the brunt for it. As they approached the safety of the Terminal City perimeter fence Alec wondered if he should ask her about it. For all the time he'd been absent from himself she never mentioned Logan and of course he could not remember to able to ask or taunt and tease as he often did.

Their walk through Terminal City seemed like old times, with Alec doing more talking than anything else being uncomfortable in the silence. Max for once enjoyed it. She had craved to hear it for so long that now it was like a breathe of fresh air and it allowed her to drift off into her own thoughts.

She had been wondering about her own suppressed thoughts, whether there were more that she just couldn't access because of Manticore. She thought back to her newly recovered memory that was now so precious to her. She wondered whether it influenced her subconsciously when she was planning her escape with her siblings when they jumped out through the windows on that cold winters night. Then she thought of Alec. What did the memory mean to him? what else had he unlocked? she thought back to Zack's own brush with amnesia and wondered if this brush with death had unlocked any secret programming in Alec.

Before she knew it they were back at Alec's place and she had taken off her jacket, one boot and was in the process of untying the other before she realised she didn't need to be there anymore. She stopped, her hands still holding the lace of her boot as she decided what to do.

She had gotten so used to coming here every night that it had become automatic. She couldn't give away the fact that she wanted to , and liked to be there, nor that she had made a mistake, her sense of pride wouldn't let her. As if coming to a similar realisation Alec stopped talking and just watched her eyes flicker with possible solutions to save the proud creature before him from hurt or embarrassment. He couldn't admit that he wanted her to stay, but excuses he could do.

"You have some of your things still here, right?" He said with a slight smile.

Max took off her other boot.

"Yeah ... I thought I should get it all together." They looked at each other a moment both understanding each other yet remaining uncertain over the implications. Max slowly started to look around for her things whilst Alec's mind raced looking for an excuse to make her stay. He almost died with relief when the heavens opened up and rain began to patter lightly against his window.

"It's pouring down with rain. You might as well stay and take your stuff home tomorrow, you know, save you getting it all wet." Alec reasoned.

"I hate the rain." Max said almost enthusiastically. And so the pretences could remain and neither had to leave the safety of denial.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------

The hours passed and soon it was time to retire, not that either slept much at any one time, but the eventful day had worn them down physically and emotionally. There was no question of who would sleep where neither dared to bring it up.

"Just change in here."

"With you watching? yeah right, in your dreams." Max scoffed

"I'll turn my back. " Alec assured her "Hey if you can resist staring at my perfect body, I can resist looking at yours." Max snorted her disapproval and turned her back to prove it. Alec chuckled and turn round too to change for bed. Alec pulled his sweatshirt over his head awkwardly thanks to his bandaged hand which should have practically healed by now. He went to examine it trying hard to ignore the sounds of clothes being removed behind him. He suddenly stopped catching skin reflected in his small bedside mirror, angling it very slightly he could see her bare, flawless back. He held his breath when she bent over to pick something up from the floor.

"Are you done?" Max called suspiciously hearing a general lack of activity behind her. Alec snapped back into life and removed the rest of his clothing except his boxers.

"Yeah, just about." Hearing the shifting of his bed sheets Alec looked round to see Max already snuggling up in his bed. A wicked grin spread across his face as he got in. He couldn't resist.

"In my bed again Max? It's just any excuse with you isn't it ? your obsessed, it's just not healthy." Max smacked him but kept her smile.

"It's good to hear you joking again."

"Who said I was joking? I'm serious." Max hit him again.

.....

"...But you're thinking about it now, aren't you?" Max pulled her pillow out and proceeded to try and smother him with it, Alec just laughed.

"Don't make me kill you!" She warned as Alec's laughter died away.

He loved winding her up and it felt good to remember how to push her buttons. He smiled up at the beauty poised above him. Max found it strange how comfortable she felt being like this with him. The cold room finally felt warm and toasty. She lay her head down on his chest and sighed happily when she felt Alec begin to tentatively stroke his fingers through her hair, a contented smile playing upon his lips.  
  
A/N: This is set after the end of the series 2. Alec and Max live in TC, the virus has been cured, and the world is still against them. I hope this answers all your questions. There is more to come. And it become more romancey from here on in. Oh and much M/A. Sorry I haven't updated recently I've been moving house and it's a huge hassle. What do you think? please give me feed back! xxx 


	5. Chapter5 Episode 3

Rating: PG 

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance 

Pairing: M/A 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;) 

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble. 

Lethe****

****

**Episode 3: Risk Running**

Under the pretence of going purely to go collect her things Max had begun to spend every night she needed sleep at Alec's. Her own apartment at TC became rather neglected but it had been since the accident so Max didn't really think about it. With Logan still out side Terminal City, this time apart meant Max had no one to answer to about her whereabouts. After a week she didn't even need to make the excuse, they had established an understanding. Sometimes she would even be there before him and she would make herself at home until he came off duty. She had never been much of sleeper, not just because of her shark DNA but having to be alert through all the years she spent running from Manticore she learnt to sleep with one eye open. The smallest sound could have woken her, yet with Alec somehow she relaxed completely, she knew she was completely safe with him and so slept like a baby. 

Things had been patched over with Logan at least a temporary truce had been put in place and he was already back at making plans for them to move back in with each other. Max felt confused, she thought she should be happy, surely this is what she wanted. But somehow she wasn't excited, she was terrified. Her feelings had been shifting around her for some time now and she couldn't tell where these new feelings were coming from. She wanted to get away from these feelings of being trapped. They were like the feelings she had whilst on the run, like there was danger just around the corner but she couldn't see it. She wanted something more, she wanted something else. Logan didn't get it, he didn't really listen and didn't understand what she needed ... but would Alec? She was confused . 

A lot had happened to Max and Logan and they always seemed to get through it one way or another so when he asked her to this party she saw it as a perfect opportunity to make or break their relationship. If they could work away from all the pressures then there was still hope the only problem was... this party sucked big time. 

Max walked out on to the balcony and sighed with relief when she found herself alone. If she had to suck up to one more posh, stuffy-noses bureaucrat she was going to vomit. Then Logan spends the whole time trying to make her sound like someone she wasn't, so that she would fit in. When did it become such a bad thing to be her? All the way down here he was giving her instructions, do this, don't do that. If it was going to be such a chore having her there, why invite her in the first place? The music was uninspiring, the people way too rigid and the conversation far too formal and business orientated. She had been trying hard, for Logan's sake, but the whole time he'd stand there over her shoulder as if he expected her to slip up and that he'd have to intervene. She took a deep breath of the cool night air to try and calm herself as she closed her eyes enjoying the feel of the wind in her hair. She stepped to the side hiding herself from view, maybe she could take a break for a while before someone came looking for her. 

"Having fun?" A voice asked. Max stepped forward and looked around trying to locate it's origin. That voice was very familiar. Stepping to the edge of the balcony and leaning over the rails she looked down at the garden below and there he was. Standing below lit by the moon and the pool lights. 

"Alec? What are you doing here? and what are you wearing?" Alec smiled and looked down at his acquired attire. 

"It's the security uniform, not bad huh?" Max withheld the urge to tell him that he could make anything look good and the fact that she was never happier to see him, compared to the so called party she was supposed to be at, he was Disneyland. 

"What are you doing here?" She hissed at him again as he approached. 

"I was bored so, knowing you are always at the centre of the action, I went over to see you. Imagine my surprise when I find out Logan had swept you away to this little shindig." 

"So you thought you'd come crash the party as a security guard?" Max scoffed incredulously. 

"No I thought I might 'borrow' a security guard uniform, then maybe 'borrow' something from that fat safe inside, or 'borrow' something from their silver cabinet, or..." 

"You came here to steal!" Alec looked up into her outraged face. Ok so his cover story was only half true, but somehow he doubted she wanted to hear how he just couldn't stay away from her, how the accident had if anything just strengthen this feeling, how he was curious to see what Logan offered that he couldn't. Hell no. 

"You don't..." suddenly the conversation was broken off as the door behind Max opened and Alec ducked out of sight. Logan sauntered out and trained his most charming smile on Max who smiled awkwardly. 

"There you are, I've been looking for you." 

"Oh." Max tried to look innocent, "I was just catching some fresh air." 

"Yes it is nice out here." They lapsed into a silence and Max found herself as eager for Logan to leave as Alec must have been. "Well dinner will be served soon..." 

"Great! um, come get me when it's ready, k." Logan nodded but said nothing, trying to hide his disappointment then turned and left her alone again. Max sighed in relief and looked over the balcony again for Alec. 

"Alec?" she whispered but there was no reply "Alec?" 

"Yeah." Max jumped nearly three feet in the air as she heard his voice behind her. Looking round she saw that he was climbing up the ivy and on to the balcony. She moved to where he was checking no one was looking. 

"Alec you can't..." 

"Steal for the Cales? well actually I can even by your twisted double standards, because you see I've done my homework and it turns out Logie's family are into just about everything from hover-drones to one too many French maids in your bedroom if you catch my drift." Alec added leaning in conspiratorially and wiggling his eyebrows. 

"You know what I mean." She whispered dangerously at him. 

"Aww come on Max you're just jealous because I've got me a fun evening planned and you..." Alec enjoyed stretching his words out and bidding his time just to tease her that little bit more, "you have to stay in there and pretend you enjoy the company of every frigid stuffy nosed wife and every greasy old crone that Logan forces upon you." Max glared at him but he had a point, oh how she would love to drop into Christopher Cale's office and relieve him of his small fortune then wave it in his face the next time he felt it necessary to boast about his 'impregnable fortress'. Max tensed when she heard someone brush against the closed doors behind her. Alec took that moment to study her as she looked towards the door in dread. She really was having a bad time, it just wasn't her scene and although she may be able to fool Logan and 70 or 80 members of his family and their associates, she couldn't fool him. 

"Or maybe we could make a compromise." Max narrowed her eyes at him, Alec just smiled innocently "How about I leave the silver where it is and just go for the good stuff leaving me time to keep you ... entertained?" The offer hung in the air for a millisecond before Max automatically sneered at it. 

"Like I need your company." she huffed 

"Fine, I'll be leaving then." 

"Wait" Max stepped towards him quickly. She groaned inwardly, she must sound so pathetic she thought and, judging by the smirk he was now sporting, Alec was rather enjoying his moment of power. Alec stepped over the stone barrier and leaned against it casually now fully upon the balcony. 

"I've been inside, got details of the security systems from the man himself." She said trying to sound offhanded. Alec narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. 

"Is that right?" 

"It seems the one big problem with his secret security system is him telling everyone it's there." Max rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity of the man and Alec chuckled evilly. 

"Lucky for us." 

"Us?" Max quipped looking over at him in what she meant to be disapproval but she couldn't hide the hopeful glint in her eyes. Alec stepped closer and observed her in that sexy calculating way he sometimes did and whispered suggestively. 

"Yeah, if your interested." Although the offer was for a share in the fun and the rewards, it somehow seemed to suggest more. He carefully reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Every fibre of Max's being tingled at the promise sat behind his mischievous eyes. When she grinned back Alec knew he had her. 

"He has a decoy safe in the west wing, " she began "Which is wired from floor to ceiling and uses a PAN card as the only means of access, the only other way in there without the master key is to trip the circuit breaker but that automatically puts the whole place on lock down ." 

"So no invitation, no entry." 

"Right. The actual safe is underground." 

"Yeah there's quite a tunnel network down there according to the building blueprints, supposed to have been filled in." Alec chewed on the end of his thumb as he recalled in perfect detail the blueprints he had browsed quickly earlier. 

"He says the only way in is through a secret door in the back of his decoy safe, but there's no way they would have been able to install safe using that tiny door." 

"So time to check out the 'filled in' tunnel entrances." Alec made moves to leave swinging his legs over the balcony. 

"What about me?" 

"You keep an eye out on the inside I'll check out here seeing as you're meant to be here and I'm not, I'll be back for you, nice dress by the way." He added casually as he dropped to the garden bellow and disappeared into the night. 

A/N: Hi! Yes it's me back from the dead. I've decided to get my act together and do some more writing while I have the chance. I can't promise quick updates but I'll try. Soooo what do you think? Do you like where this is going? Let me know. xxx 


	6. Chapter6

Rating: PG 

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance 

Pairing: M/A 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;) 

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble. 

Lethe. 

**Chapter6: ****Safe and Sound**

Dinner was being served, as Max sat down at her place at the table denoted by the fancy name card sitting above her plate. Innumerable waiters and waitresses bustled about serving some ridiculously small clump of vegetables that was passed off as a gourmet starter. Max ignored the hum of chatter and focused on memorising the movements of the guard detachment. By the time the main course arrived Max had spotted all the security cameras in the immediate vicinity and she was quite sure that the nerve centre for the watch was the third door in on the upper-balcony. There was still no sign of Alec as the plates were being taken away and Max was beginning to wonder. Just then a slight movement in the shadows below the stairwell caught her eye and sure enough unbeknown to the party there lurked Alec. Max smiled to herself letting Alec know she had seen him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him signal to her to make her excuses and go for a toilet break before he disappeared again. Max glanced up the table at the host, then back at her food and a cruel smile curled her lips. Clamping her hand over her mouth and bulging her eyes Max made some light gagging sounds as if she were trying to suppress vomit. 

"Max? are you okay?" Logan whispered his concern so as not to draw attention from the other guests who were already beginning to turn in their direction. 

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too great, " Max turned to address the rest of the table "If you'll excuse me I really need to use your facilities." The host nodded 

"Certainly my dear, are you quite well?" 

"I'll be fine, excuse me." Max had to bite her lip to suppress the urge to laugh when she saw a number of the guest sniffing suspiciously at their plates. She managed to maintain her composure all the way to the bathroom, winking at one of security guards as she slipped passed him. She locked the door and let out long sigh as she leant back against the door. Finally something was going to happen, finally she had something to do. Speaking of which where was he? 

"Alec?" Max whispered as she looked around. She was replied by a light tapping on the window which she promptly swept across to open. Alec's head popped up grinning from ear to ear. 

"Ready?" 

"Ready?" Max repeated wearily frowning "What do you mean 'ready'?" 

"Are you ready to go find the buried treasure, Ar!" Alec attempted a rather poor pirate impression. His untamed excitement was obvious he did nothing to disguise it. It sparkled in his eyes and lengthened his smile and made him bounce on whatever rope was holding him in place. Max regarded him sceptically 

"In this dress? are you kidding?" Alec rose an amused eyebrow. 

"You could take it off, I have no objections." Max punched him playfully. "Come on it'll be fine, you might want to lose the heals though." Max wasted no time in discarding them and then carefully climbed up and out on to the ledge outside. Without a second though Alec grabbed her by the waist and repelled them back down to the ground below. 

"Hey! don't get any ideas, I'm no damsel in distress." Max said hands on her hips as Alec hid the rope from sight. 

"Shame, I was all but ready to whip out the shining armour." Max hitched her skirt up and followed Alec into the bushes up ahead of them. Alec readjusted his borrowed uniform as they went, repositioning his hat. Max giggled, he looked as if he had just escaped from a striptease show. Alec took them further into the undergrowth, through the trees towards the back of the grounds where the ground was covered in wood-chippings. The branches and plants were scratching at Max's ankles. She tried to contain her as it seemed Alec was taking the most awkward route possible on purpose because he knew she had bare-feet. Finally they stopped and Alec knelt down to dust the chippings off a partially covered man whole cover. Max stopped suddenly. 

"Wait, wait, wait. We're not going into the sewers." 

" 'fraid so." 

"Alec!" Alec smiled sympathetically 

"The other tunnels have been filled in except for the one that is in there. Come on it won't be for long so you'll be fine, just don't touch anything." Max crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as Alec began to remove the cover. 

"Don't you think they'll be a bit suspicious if I get back in there smelling like shit?" 

"Well you were hiding in the toilet." Max wrinkled her nose in disgust at what he was suggesting. "I'll carry you if you like." Alec beamed at her, Max just sighed and shoved him deciding just to get going it's not like she wanted to be where she was supposed to be. Alec kept his word, no sooner had they touched down inside than he was pointing out the tunnel entrance ahead of them half boarded shut. They would have a time squeezing in without ruining the dress so Max picked up the skirt ends and tucked them into her panties. Alec smirked. 

"After you m'lady." Alec added an over elaborate bow "I'll follow and watch your ... Back." Max returned his grin but crossed her arms and tapped her foot trying to appear as if she were not amused which was made grotesquely humorous with her skirt hanging out of her pants. But she had no shame. 

"You mean you'll watch my backside, I don't even know what's down there. So after you, you jackass." Max mimicked his bow but without the airs. Alec laughed as he kicked through the last board covering the tunnel and slipped inside. It was very dark, not that it bothered them with their genetically enhanced eyesight. The ceiling was low, and was showing signs of age but at least it was covered in sewage. 

"Down dark tunnels on the first date." Alec grinned 

"You must feel right at home." Max chided back. Soon they reached a hollow that open out into a bigger room with a big obvious discoloured concrete patch on the far wall. 

"Looks recently made." 

"It's the same stuff they used to fill in the other tunnels." Alec observed running his hand across its uneven surface. 

"So ... dead end?" The look on Alec's face was hard to read but she guessed that he either had something up his sleeve or he was going tell her that he knew there was no way in and just wanted to drag her all the way down here anyway. Alec still smiling tapped the wall lightly with his fist before in one swift motion he smashed his fist straight through it. 

"In the damp its like cardboard." Max stepped up next to him and slid her hand along his arm into the whole he had just made enjoying the surprised look on his face. 

"You know you have this unhealthy habit of putting your fist through things." 

"Lucky for you I do or you would have come all the way down here for nothing." Alec pulled out a lump of wall mimicking her motion of sliding the back of his hand along her arm "Although I'm sure we would have thought of something else to do." Alec felt carefree, that smile that Max couldn't seem to shift was giving him the confidence to test the barriers between them. 

"Yeah, but who needs candle lit dinners and moonlit walks when you've got breaking and entering." They began to pull the wall out making a hole big enough for them to squeeze through. They climbed over the wall of steal security cabinet's and stood in awe at the row upon row of safety deposit box draws that filled all available space in the safe. They smiled at each other. Alec rubbed his hands together. 

"We're in." Alec walked up one side running his index finger along the numbers printed on the front of each drawers. Max walked up the other side smiling in satisfaction not at the lines of drawers but at the image of Christopher Cale's face in her head all red and constipated. 

"28 02, why not." He slowly slid the drawer out checking for wires, motion sensors and lasers as he went. He placed it on the table high cabinets that ran along the centre of the room and opened it found it to contain a velvet pouch and inside that a number of gems. Although there was no light Alec was fairly sure they were emeralds. Trying some other drawers he found more gems, bonds, property deeds, artefacts, and wads of cash. As Alec began to pocket the loot Max's hand suddenly shot out and stopped him. Alec sighed as he looked up at her expecting all the time to see that look on her face, the one that she had whenever she was about to sacrifice something for the greater good. 

"Alec, we don't need to take anything. Isn't enough that we got in?" 

"Max, we need this, even if you don't I know a few transgenics who could do with some cash injection. I've already pocketed enough to keep us comfortable for the rest of the year and I haven't even started." There was that look again and he knew she wasn't going to let up. 

"That's enough then leave the rest." Alec groaned, there was no point arguing he would never win and he was actually surprised she was letting him take as much as he had so he complied. Max looked about as Alec began to slide the draws back into place, something was missing, a finishing touch. 

"Have you got any paper on you?" Alec raised an eyebrow curiously. 

"Err, there was some wrapped around the cash ...here." Alec held out a crumpled sheet of paper that Max snatched up eagerly. Retrieving her lipstick she quickly scribbled something down. She smiled triumphantly and placed it down on the table-high divide between them so Alec could read it. He grinned. 

"Let's go." Max said grabbing Alec by the hand and pulling them both out the way they came in leaving the note in plain view behind them. 

"It seems a shame to wait until they next happen to check the safe." Alec whispered as they scuttled back across the immaculately kept lawn to the wall of the house. They leaned up against it a moment checking the coast was clear. 

"What are you going to do? set the alarms off on purpose?" 

"I just might." Alec breathed passing purposely against her to get to the drain pipe and start climbing up to the window from which he had extracted her. He watched her as she straightened her dress out and replaced her shoes. She glowed, there was a slight blush tinting her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes that had become brighter through the last few weeks. 

"Well..." she said finally facing him again. 

"Well..." Alec echoed smiling broadly. He held out his arm to her and she took it shaking her head as he escorted her to the door. They stood there awkwardly like two kids at the end of a first date. 

"I had a great time." It was true her evening had been significantly improved by his interference. 

"Me too, we should do it again sometime." Alec leaned closer placing a hand on the wall by head where she was leaning, hand on the door handle ready to leave. "I'll call you." 

"I'd ... better go ... before they get suspicious." 

"I'll miss you. I'm not sure I can take it." Max shoved him playfully. 

"My mama warned me about boys like you." Max said poking a finger into his chest 

"Lydecker warned me about girls like you." 

"Goodnight." As Max made a move to leave, Alec saw his opportunity slipping away. 

"Wait." 

"Wha...?" before she could finish Alec closed the short distance between them and captured her lips in a slow sweet kiss. Max had entirely stopped breathing as the night of flirting finally came to a head. The moment was broken by a knock at the door. In that same instance Alec moved swiftly to the window and dived out. 

"Max?" Came the concerned voice of Logan's cousin Trixy. Max sighed and opened the door falling effortlessly into character. "Are you okay? you've been gone ages." 

"Yeah I'm good now, just a bit nauseous. Shall we." 

"Lets." they walked arm in arm back to the main hall where the dinner table was being cleared and the guests were happily sipping sherry. Max rejoined Logan who wasted no time in smothering her. 

"Max are you okay? do you need anything? is it the shakes? do you need some of your pills?" Max rolled her eyes. 

"It's under control." she answered vaguely which seemed to cover all the questions in one and pacified him at least for the time being. Just then the whole place burst into life in a confused mix of sirens and flashing alarms. A confused commotion broke out amongst the guests. Chris Cale was swarmed by his body guards and then promptly rushed off to the source of the trouble. Max unmoved looked out of the large bay window at the silhouetted figure jumping over the fence and disappearing into the night. 

A/N: here it is finally there is more to come shortly. It's writen it just needs to be typed up. So what do you think? I was only able to quickly skim read it before I posted it so if there are big stupid mistakes I'm sorry I will fix it soon. Review please! 


	7. Chapter7

Rating: PG 

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance 

Pairing: M/A 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;) 

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble. 

Lethe. 

Chapter7: Two Steps Back 

"Sir." 

"What's the report?" 

"It's the safe sir..." 

"My God... how much is missing?" 

"We don't know exactly yet sir, looks like 8 drawers but we're still checking..." 

"...What there's more?" 

"We found this sir." 

"..." "Get Logan ... Now!" 

Knock, Knock, Knock, 

Came the pounding on the door. Alec looked up from his place in front of the TV and thought about ignoring it, but it continued. Alec growled as he was forced to get up to make it stop. 

"Alright, alright! Jesus..." Swinging the door open Alec came face to face with a red faced Logan who promptly shoved past him into his apartment without a word. 

"Why hello Logan, why don't you come in." Alec grumbled with mock joviality but Logan ignored him and began his search of the apartment. Alec watched him rapidly losing his patience. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Logan still ignored him and with increased determination continued his search into the bathroom. Alec followed close behind flicking the TV off as he went. He was only just keeping his cool, he'd lose his temper if he didn't put a stop to this now. 

"Hey!" Alec grabbed Logan and spun him round to face him. 

"Let go of me Alec." Logan shrugged his hands off and went back to searching through the bathroom cabinet. 

"Oh so you do know I'm here... What are you looking for? You know this is my apartment, thus it is more than likely I know where whatever-it-is is." Alec leaned against the door Jam purposely blocking the only exit. 

"Aha!" Logan exclaimed removing an item from the drugs cabinet and thrusting it accusingly in Alec's face. Alec coolly raised an eyebrow at it, then looked over it at Logan's contorted face. He'd finally lost it, he thought. 

"It's a razor." 

"No, it's a lady-razor." Logan spat contemptuously. Alec looked at him bemused for a moment before it hit him. That's Max's razor. Alec carefully held his composure keeping this realisation from touching his features. He could blow this whole thing out of the water right now. He could tell Logan where Max had been spending her nights, then it would be bye-bye Eyes. He had the power to cut him out of the picture entirely if he wanted to all he had to do was be honest. 

"What? You're going to bust my balls because Terminal City could only get female cosmetics?" Logan blinked and in that moment Alec saw a flicker of doubt pass between his eyes as he hesitated. He ticked it over in his mind before anger slipped back into place and he threw the razor to the floor and pushed past Alec heading for the bedroom. Alec let him by, obviously Logan had been avoiding the bedroom perhaps still not wanting to find hard evidence of the affair he imagined was going on but now he was going for the jackpot. Alec played the innocent role, he personally prided himself on being able to talk his way out of any situation, after all he had been trained in the art of manipulation and deception. Logan sifted around the room a little more frantically finding his confidence begin to drain. 

"What's this all about?" Alec asked secretly watching out for anything distinctly Max in the room. 

"This is about you ..." Logan said crawling on the floor to get a look at the things under the bed "... and Max." Alec noted the bitter edge in the older man's voice, lined thick with jealousy and backed with a sense of betrayal. "Don't play dumb Alec," He said turning to him with a venomous glare "I know there's something going on, I've got surveillance footage of the two of you together at the Cale family gathering." 

Alec coolly raised an eyebrow showing no hint of concern on his face as he furiously ran the nights events through his mind. He was sure he had been careful of surveillance, why would they install cameras in the bathroom? in case a guest decided to steal the soup? 

"Together? in what capacity?" 

"You were all cosy out on the balcony." Alec broke into a laugh, Logan really was lame. This whole fiasco was based on how close he had been standing to Max on the balcony, but obviously in Logan's world where nothing happened for a year before your relationship went anywhere, this was just as good as kissing. 

"Don't laugh Alec." 

"I'm sorry, but are you serious!" Logan just glared harder "Cosy! yeah right ... Logan I was there to rob the joint and Max was giving stick about it. Believe me there was nothing cosy about it." 

"Really!" Logan said sceptically 

"Yes." Alec said more angrily, although he was beginning to feel something chewing at him deep down. "If you're looking for evidence of an affair you won't find it because there isn't any, but far be it for you trust my word on anything, so go ahead and look I need to clean up anyway." With that Alec left Logan alone with his paranoia. Logan ran a shaky hand over his face and through his hair. Maybe he had been wrong after all, maybe Max had been faithful and he had just jumped to a conclusion that seemed to fit. He had fixated so long on his inadequacies, especially among so many perfectly engineered beings, that he became certain that Max would leave him. It was no longer a case of if , but a case of when in his mind. Everyone was becoming a suspect and Alec, who was practically Max's shadow, was his prime suspect. He hadn't been blind to how the accident had changed their relationship seeing how Alec's chatter and teasing was suddenly far less annoying and far more welcoming than it had ever been. 

Logan hung his head in shame. He should have had more faith in Max, given her the benefit of the doubt, it's not as if he wanted her to give up and move on. If they couldn't trust each other then there would be no hope. He took a deep sad breath and stepped out into the living-room. Alec appeared from the kitchen and watched Logan as he left with a dejected defeated look that seeped into every part of his stance. 

It was then that Alec knew with a sigh that he had gone too far. He was becoming the kind of guy he never wanted to be. He was putting his feelings for Max between her and Logan. It had been too much of a good thing and he was letting his own desires and hopes blind him. He realised he was being selfish, too many people stood to get hurt. Alec was too close to the edge, he was going to fall for her and get his heart pulped again but this time he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive it. 

"Logan, some advise, trust and loyalty are everything with Max, you've got to do that for her or you will lose her." Logan nodded and with an awkward apology left Alec alone with his guilt. 

Alec slumped into a chair and rubbed his brow tiredly "This is bad," What had he been thinking. He had to stop all this. They had only kissed, actually now that he really thought about it, he had kissed her she hadn't reciprocated, not that she had the chance. But if she had the chance would she have? wouldn't it be more likely that she would slap him for having the nerve, with Logan practically in the next room. He had kissed Max whilst she was on a date with Logan. But he wasn't intentionally being the guy he promised he wasn't, the kinda guy that would take another guy's girl. He couldn't help but be drawn to her. But she was in love with Logan, anything she saw in Alec was to ease her guilt or to use him as a safety buffer from getting hurt now that the virus was cured. He stood up, he knew what he had to do. 

Max straightened herself out checking her appearance as she approached his apartment. It had been a long time since she'd felt like this, since she'd been this nervous or excited over going to see a guy. She was giddy, ridiculously happy and right now she felt certain. Maybe being kissed by Alec had given her the closure on Logan she needed, showing her that she had other options. It had started her thinking about what she really wanted and what she needed to be happy. It made her think about all her feelings of guilt but also about the nature of her guilt; that it was keeping her prisoner but that it could also set her free. 

Coming to his door she picked the lock and went in and was somewhat surprised not to see him sat in front of the television. She heard a scuffling about in the bedroom and headed in its direction. Pushing the door open she found Alec flitting about his room picking up clothes and putting them away. 

"Hey," she said venturing in. 

"Hey Max." Alec replied keeping himself busy. 

"What are you doing?" Max asked hovering awkwardly 

"I've got to go pick up a watch for Speed so I won't be here tonight but you can stay if you want." 

"No that's OK. I've got some stuff to fix up at mine." Alec nodded trying to swallow that serge of hope that came with the knowledge that it really was only for his company that she came. It was then that Max noticed a bag at the end of the bed with some clothes and things neatly folded in it. She stepped forward recognising them instantly and her heart sank. 

"I put all your stuff together so you can take it back with you if you like, I found your razor in..." 

"Alec what's wrong?" Max asked cutting him off. Alec paused as he shrugged his leather jacket on. Looking at her now he thought about dropping it all, forgetting being noble, disregarding the right thing to do and just being honest. He though about it for a full second. 

"Nothing's wrong, I've just got to go. I'll see you later." And with that he hurried passed her and out of the apartment. 

"Later," Max called feebly after him as she stared at the closed door. All her excitement, all her certainties, all those happy tingly feelings had all gone, vanished just as he had through the apartment door. She didn't understand. It wasn't supposed to be like that. Max slumped down on to the end of his bed, still staring at the closed door. 

"Hey Alec, Hey Max, How are you? I'm fine, I was just thinking about yesterday, hey me too, I was just thinking ... I was thinking it was great and we should do it more often ...yeah, me too." 

As the door closed Alec stopped and squeezed his eyes shut. It was killing him not to go back in there and tell her everything she wanted to hear and everything he wanted to tell her. He wanted so much to give in, to be her excuse, to be her comfort, to be her anything. But he didn't, he would do the right thing, he would walk away. Alec laughed hollowly as he continued out into the dark and slightly damp streets of Terminal City. How was it that the right thing always gave you the worst feeling? 

A/N: Sorry I've been away so long I have been writing dissertations and dealing with rehearsals. Anyways here it is the next instalment, please review! xxx 


	8. Chapter8

Rating: PG 

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance 

Pairing: M/A 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel , it owns me. ;) This chapter contains lyrics froma song I don't own don't sue me for that. 

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble. 

Lethe. 

Chapter 8: Left thinking ... why? 

Lying in my bed I hear the 

Clock tick and think of you, 

Turning in circles 

confusion is nothing new, 

Max stared at the ceiling unable to get to sleep, again. It had been a week and now she was sure Alec was avoiding her. They had gone from practically living together to barely saying two words to each other each day. Now she found she couldn't sleep without him there. She was confused, left alone each night with the same thought running round her head, why? And to make things worse Logan was being super understanding about everything and over attentive. She should be delighted after all this is surely what she wanted from him, but it wasn't and she wasn't. Along with her feelings of confusion she found herself feeling both suspicious and scared: suspicious that Logan had something to do with Alec suddenly distancing himself, and scared that Logan was going to make the possibility of leaving him an impossibility, which had up until now been very much on the table. 

Max longed for sleep to clear her head of these dangerous thoughts and to escape her confused mix of sadness and guilt. But it wouldn't come, she'd gotten used to Alec being there, and now she missed that comfortable something Alec brought. She rolled over on to her side picturing him there... 

Flashback to warm nights, 

Almost left behind. 

A suitcase of memories, 

Time after ... 

That warm smile, that curled his lips even in sleep, soothed her; the extra warmth his body provided, the feeling of his smooth skin when he accidentally brushed up against her, his smell like maple that subtly clung to the sheets even after he had gotten up, the sensation of feeling safe and perfectly at ease in someone's arm's, and the whisper light puffs of air that caressed her skin as he slept beside her. She missed it all. She hated the distance he was creating between them. What had she done to ruin it? Why had he changed his mind? Had he freaked out? but if he was bold enough to kiss her he sure as hell should be bold enough to face the consequences. If anyone had the right to be freaked out it was her not him. Why didn't he want to be with her anymore? Maybe he never did. Maybe it was only her that read more into their nightly ritual. But then that kiss ... surely it had to have meant something to him. 

Sometimes you'll picture me 

I'm walking too far ahead, 

You're calling out to me I 

Can't hear what you have said. 

She closed her eyes trying to close out the world and listen only to her heart, hoping it's slow rhythms would be enough to soothe her into peaceful slumber. But there he was in her head the moment her eye lids fluttered closed. She could picture him so clearly. She wanted to reach out to him to make him real. This whole situation was making knots in her stomach. Why was it that he made her so crazy? Why was it that whenever it concerned him she just couldn't seem to get her head straight? It was crazy that he was having this effect on her. She remembered a time not too long ago when his constant presence used to drive her crazy, now she was sure this was worse. Then it suddenly clicked. It was crazy, she was lying here feeling sorry for herself when for the first time it was clear what she wanted. She wasn't freaking out in fact she had never been so clear. She knew where she wanted to be and where she just couldn't be anymore. 

And you say go slow 

I fall behind 

the second hand unwind 

She knew there was only one thing to do. She leaned over and picked up the clock on her bedside table. It read 2:35, was it too late to go over to Logans? 

if your lost you can look and you will find me time after time 

if you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting time after time 

time after time 

(Eva Cassidy - time after time) 

Somewhere not too far away, a lone figure stood out on a rooftop looking out over the desecrated remains of an old firehouse, silhouetted by the bright and full moon. Although a lot of the wreckage had been cleared away there was left something of a crater and the few remaining structural pillars that the explosion had not blown out. He looked down at it nostalgically, like looking down on a day he had once lost but was now forever burnt into his memory. What burned worse was the thought of those weeks that followed when he was so lost and so alone but for her. He smiled despite himself. The wind picked up around him, whirling up the sides of the building and whistling through the cracks in the abandoned tower blocks. He zipped up his jacket and sadly moved off to work thinking of the one place he would rather be, with the one girl that drew him back to her time after time, the one girl who was now there alone. 

The sun was up and a new day shone throughout the refurbished penthouse. The usually wet and muggy Seattle for once seemed like another world altogether as it sparkled with life and a renewed sense of hope seemed to move in the air. For Max however, she would much rather it were raining, all this sunshine didn't fit with her purposes for today. She sat glazed over in thought as she nursed a cup of pre-pulse coffee. She stared into her cup distractedly not sure how to broach the topic or how to bring it up. Logan was chattering away apparently oblivious to the fact that she wasn't really listening. She looked up at him and his hopeful face wondering whether the obvious cloud hanging over her had alerted him as to the reason for her visit. 

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked 

"No ... I'm fine." 

"I've got some leftovers, I don't mind whipping up some pasta." 

"No, I'm fine really." 

"Perhaps a biscuit or a biscotti for your coffee or..." 

"I said I'm fine ... Really." Max said a little harshly, but she was adamant now about not delaying the inevitable any longer. "Logan, listen..." but then where would she begin. "Things between us are..." 

"Tense? I know but that's something to work on." 

"That's just it Logan it's all so much work, it's never right, it's never good between us anymore." Logan fell silent and his expression of hope dropped away. He'd been afraid this conversation had been pending for some time, it had been written all over her face. 

"But Max if we all gave up anytime something seemed too hard or became too much work..." 

"I know Logan, but it's more than that and you know it, you must have felt it falling away." Maybe he had, maybe that's what had been causing that emptiness to grow inside him. But after all they'd fought for, all the trauma, all the struggling, he couldn't believe that this was it. 

"But that's all circumstantial, what is there that isn't?" 

"There's your work, my family." Max began, becoming weary of this fairly quickly. "There's no faith, no trust, you don't trust me to be me." 

"Who says I don't trust you?" Logan said quickly sounding more alarmed than offended. Max said nothing and looked away trying to think of a way to make this whole process less painful. 

"It was Alec wasn't it, he told you." Logan grumbled suddenly grabbing Max's attention. It seemed she may have been right after all and perhaps she would finally fine out what was going on. 

"Err, well ... yes." Max answered craftily. She though carefully about how to phrase her questions so that she could squeeze the most information out of him. "Well? have you got anything you want to add?" 

"I just ... over reacted," Logan sighed "It's not like I was stalking you." 

"You overreacted?" Max was confused. 

"Ok, ok, I jumped to conclusions ... again. You have to believe me it's more about me having issues with Alec than with you. You know what he's like." Max frowned. 

"You still have issues with Alec even after all this time!" She couldn't believe it and yet it wasn't surprising. Logan had never taken her relationship with Alec in all it's shapes and forms very well but she had hoped he would have gotten past that by now. Logan didn't say anything , his guilt evident in his silence. 

"Logan. He's my friend, he was in an accident, he could have died, ok. If it had happened to Asha wouldn't you want to see to it personally that she got the best care and help possible?" Now it was Logan's turn to be confused, he frowned. 

"Well yes, but I thought this was about the surveillance footage?" 

"I haven't even got to that yet!" Max almost shouted having been caught off guard. Her mind raced. What surveillance? What footage? What did this have to do with Alec? 

"Why were you checking surveillance?" 

"I wasn't checking up on you, it was Chris. After his place got robbed that night he was checking through all the surveillance recordings and found you and Alec together on the balcony and thought I should know. He jumped to exactly the same conclusion." It all began to fall into place. Logan had evidence of them being together at the party and with her acting so funny that night he assumed there was an affair going on. He must have gone to confront Alec who clearly denied everything enough for Logan to believe him and was now in the process of denying it to himself and to her. Max felt enraged, although perhaps she had no right to do as she was guilty of wanting another man. However, she would never start another relationship behind his back, she'd been through enough with Logan that surely she owed him at least that. That's why she'd come here in the first place. But he had never completely trusted her to look after herself, to look after her family , and with other men unless she specifically thought of them as brothers. Perhaps this is why she could never truly open up to him, although he tried he could never truly accept all she was and all that meant she brought with her. This maybe why despite the virus being gone their relationship still wasn't working, it seemed like the virus was just an excuse. The virus had made the possibility of being together beyond it a fantasy, a dream that reality could never match up to. 

Max felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked up at him across the table from her as she tried to glare. 

"So that's your excuse is it, it's not your fault everyone was jumping to the same conclusions!" 

"No, Max, it's not like that. But can you blame me after what you had me believe before!" Logan bit back defensively. 

"That was for your own protection, I let you believe what you wanted to believe I never purposely put the idea in your head it was already there, I just used it so that you wouldn't one day accidentally get killed!" Logan was also getting angry as the shouts and accusation escalated. 

"So what? this is all my fault? I don't think so. You think I'm the only one with trust issues? You never tell me anything, I'm never in the loop. You don't trust me either!" He shouted pointedly. Max quietened down as the words really seemed to hit home and she nodded sadly at the truth behind them. 

"No, I guess your right." She wiped a stray tear from her cheek as the plain admission stilled Logan. "But look at us Logan, we're just not happy even without the virus we are strangers. We can't go on making each other this miserable. This has to stop." 

"I can't make you happy?" Max shook her head, "And he can?" 

"Maybe." Max answered keeping her eyes locked with his. 

"You're not happy Logan and it's because of me. You know it's time to move on, for both of us." Logan remained locked with her for a few moments more before he nodded slowly slumping into his chair a little defeated. Max came to sit next to him and gingerly touched his hand. 

"I'm sorry." She whispered, Logan smiled and took her hand with a gentle squeeze. 

"Me too." 

A/N: there you go as promised slightly quicker update and it looks like I'm almost done. I will get down to writing the finale right away. Any thoughts? review! let me know what you think. 


	9. Chapter 9

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama / Angst / Romance

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, it owns me. ;)

Summary: How important are memories? Max and Alec face a new challenge in their changing relationship. Can an unfortunate accident bring them closer together? ...And now jealousy; a catalyst for trouble.

Lethe.

**Chapter 9: Sun Kissed**

The sun was beginning to set sending warm orange rays like long fingers between the tall buildings and into small garage at the rear of Terminal City. There sat on the hood of a blown out Buick was Alec, his mind far from the task at hand. With his arm resting across on knee he swung a can of WD-40 loosely in his oily hands. The quiet splendour of this unusual day seemed to have him held captive. He stared out of the open end of the garage at the silhouettes of the buildings beyond, his eyes glazed in thought. A light breeze blowing through the streets ruffled his golden-brown hair and cooled his body which shimmered slightly from the sheen of his sweat. The streets were quiet now although the hum of city life could still be heard mixing with the soft tunes of the radio that played unobtrusively in the back.

Alec was brought around from his musings as an oily cloth thwacked him in the side of the head. Looking round he saw Speed, Terminal cities resident transportation expert standing in his overalls with his arms crossed.

"Welcome back to the real world, where have you been?" He asked amused at having been able to catch Alec off guard.

"Sorry, I was just ... thinking." Alec replied sliding off the hood of the car and getting back to work on replacing the brakes. Speed chuckled shaking his head.

"I never thought I'd see the day when a girl would render the great 494 completely useless."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Alec replied dismissively as he set about removing the front right tyre, masking his reactions with complete neutrality in an attempt to discourage any further discussion.

"Really?" Speed was unimpressed and undeterred. He leant against the vehicle and regarded his friend sceptically. "Then tell me, how many brake checks have you done in the last two hours?" The guilty silence that followed settled his point. Alec gave him a dirty look as Speed started to laugh.

"Thanks a lot."

"I'm sorry," Speed managed as his laughter pattered out, wiping a tear from his eyes. He sat down against the car in order to be at the same level as his somewhat put out friend.

"So come on, let's have it."

"Have what?" Alec was still determined to ignore him.

"Well, not that I'm an expert but this is usually the part where you tell me all about it. You sit there all dreamy eyed as you picture her all smiling and windswept, after which I offer some vaguely relevant advice like 'get over her, there are other fish in the transgenic sea' or 'what are you doing here? Go fight for her soldier.'" Alec finally stopped working throwing his spanner down angrily and swinging around to glare at Speed.

"You think this is funny don't you?" Speed chuckled but shook his head.

"No, you have my every sympathy; love makes meatheads of the best of us." Alec got up and moved off deciding to go with just saying nothing at all. "Aww, come on Alec, don't be like that, I'm serious." Alec began to sift noisily through a tool box trying to block out the sound of Speed's voice. "Come on talk to me." Still nothing "Come on you'll feel better and then maybe we can get some proper work done." Alec for the first time considered the offer, he wasn't one for discussing his feelings, he was used to dealing with things on his own.

"What's the point it's all over anyway." He sighed playing with the ratchet in his hands. Speed regarded him carefully. The guy really did seem lost. Love was a funny thing, something to steer clear of if you could help it, but when it has a hold on you it seems impossible to let go of it. Speed was a soft touch really, underneath that sarcastic, know-it-all exterior all he wanted to do was help. Like his friend and former CO he hid behind humour and a cocky self-assurance.

Speed frowned.

"Max said that?" Alec looked round sharply denial on the tip of his tongue. "Don't even try it, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out you're in love with Max."

"Who said anything about love?" Alec blurted a little more alarmed than he wanted to appear.

"Ok, ok ... it can't all be lost ... have you told her?" Alec gave him a look that seemed to say what do you think? "I guess not ... not appropriate right? ... Logan and all that." Alec sighed and got back to working on the busted brakes. Speed kept thinking "But maybe..."

"No, trust me it's better this way, this way no one gets hurt."

"Right, because you're just peachy-keen." Alec hesitated, the truth was he wasn't peachy-keen, he'd been miserable all week. He was hurting; he had a dull ache in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of her. He felt the misery of disappointed affection, but it was his own fault. He was being punished and this pain was proportionate to his crime. He had brought it on himself.

"Yeah, I'm always alright." Speed gave an exasperated sigh rolling his eyes.

"So you cut her out of your life for her own good ... I've seen the router sheet." Alec looked up at him and frowned. It's true for the last week he had adjusted duties to keep him as far away from max as possible.

"What? Are you stalking me now?" Speed shook off Alec's attempt at a subject change.

"You can't avoid her forever. You know in the end it's her choice, maybe you should at least let her know that there is one." Alec beheld his friend, who being renowned as fairly scatty and not as quick as his name would suggest, did on occasion make a lot of sense. Alec smiled shaking his head.

"I know," Speed laughed "I surprise myself sometimes."

Alec stood clapping his friend on the shoulder in a silent manly gesture of thanks. Smiling Speed glanced over Alec's shoulder and instantly shifted his stance becoming suddenly uncomfortable.

"I'll just go get some coffee, you want some?" He said backing off.

"Yeah, sure."

"Me too," a voice chimed in from behind him. Spinning round Alec found Max standing awkwardly in the door way almost a silhouette against the last rays of the setting sun. Alec swallowed thickly.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked coolly.

"Just got here, why? Were you talking about me?" Max smiled playfully trying to ease the tension but not making a move to close the distance between them. Alec couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah, we were just saying how nosey you were." Max stuck her tongue out at him. It was strange how they were able to slip back into their old comfort zone, picking up their usual teasing banter, despite the distance the last week had put between them. For Max it gave her confidence in the decision she had made. She was happy and for a moment so was Alec until he remembered his resolve. He let the smile slip from his features and tried to look busy. He moved to pick up the tools on the floor, Max sighed; he was putting up walls again.

"I've got loads to do so if there is something you want Max..." She smiled slightly as she played with idea of saying 'yeah you' but perhaps that was too corny, too much of a line.

"I came to see you." Alec didn't look up at her feeling he would betray himself if he did. She watched him closely.

"Really" Alec tried to sound disinterested.

"No, actually I came to get my car fixed," Max said sarcastically rolling her eyes, "Of course I came to see you." She approached him hoping to coax him into stopping this game and finally joining the conversation.

"Well here I am," Alec had a feeling that the tingle her admission had sent careering through his body was going to make his resolve that much harder to keep. Max sighed and decided she might as well just launch into it.

"Just thought you might like to know ... I've broken up with Logan."

"What!" Alec's reaction was quick, turning to look up at her finally.

"Yep, we're done." Max tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. She took a deep breath and with a sigh she let out the remanence of her not-like-that-like-that relationship. Alec stood up slowly, and reaching out his cleanest hand he touched her on the arm.

"Are you okay?" Max smiled genuinely and certainly.

"Yeah, it's just weird finally walking away after all this time." Alec's mind was tripping over itself unsure what to think. What did it mean? Why was she telling him? What was she looking for when she came looking for him? Was it comfort or something more than that? The thought of it even as the slightest of possibilities made his heart beat quicken. Max, having temporarily lost track of her objective shook her head and focused.

"So, what now?" Alec asked nervously.

"Now you stop avoiding me!"

"Who says I was avoiding you?" Alec spoke up defensively.

"When we go from sharing a bed to barely speaking to each other little red flags go up." Somewhere in the back room a coffee mug smashed. Max blushed slightly having forgotten that Speed was still around. Alec grinned.

"I'm sorry. After everything that happened ... I figured rather than go and ruin your life again it would be better for all concerned if I kept my distance." He sighed heavily "I never wanted to be a confusion in your life Max."

"And has it been better?" Max asked tentatively suddenly feeling anxious. But he gave no answer he just stood looking at her searchingly, trying to see in her eyes what she wanted him too say. He was holding back Max could see it as she held his gaze.

"Alec, has it been better?" Alec tried to walk away; to answer the question would leave him exposed, could he risk it. "Alec! ... Has it been better?"

"No of course not!" Alec blurted giving up the fight. He ran a shaky hand through his ruffled hair. "I can't sleep, I can't think straight, I can't seem to get anything done because I'm always thinking about you ... I'm always wishing I was with you ... I'm miserable because I haven't got you and the stupid thing is I never had you in the first place." Alec couldn't bring himself to look at her anymore. He turned away throwing a rag at the car in frustration with himself. Max stepped closer taking his hand and effectively drawing his attention back to her.

"Maybe you did." She spoke softly. Alec looked up from their joined hands into her wide brown eyes waiting for her to continue not trusting himself to speak. "The night after the party when I came over to see you, I wanted to tell you that I was happy ... that what happened had confirmed my worst fears," she paused now smiling brightly, "I want to be with you." Alec couldn't move the shock permeating every pore of his body. As he looked at the truth shining in her deep brown eyes his face broke into a soft smile.

"Worst fears?" He asked drawing closer to her "Is it so bad discovering that you actually like me?" His face began to descend on hers.

"It's worse" she whispered leaning in to him.

"Maybe ... maybe I can make it worth your while." He said as he closed the distance between them and their lips met. Max wound her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Alec's fingers trailed lazily across the soft skin of her cheek savouring her sweet taste. Max was stunned by his tenderness and his reverence, she wished it could last forever but even she needed to breathe.

They broke apart yet remained close.

"Do you think Speed will mind if I skip out on him?" Alec wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, Max smiled biting her lip. Then somewhere in the background the small makeshift radio that had been playing quietly was turned up and now the garage was filled with the sounds of Van Morrison's 'My Brown Eyed Girl'. Alec laughed; he held out his hand and bowed.

"Would you care to dance m'lady?"

"I'd love to."

Speed appeared from the back and watched them twist and turn around the small city garage shaking his head.

"You just can't get the staff these days."

The End.

A/N: That's it! it is finished I hope you enjoyed. Please tell me if you like that ending. You have the power to change it if you don't like it. Thanks for reading! x x x


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